Although fertilizers are necessary in order to maximize crop production, fertilizers may cause runoff water pollution problems. In addition to crop runoff areas, concentrated animal feeding operations may also cause water quality issues in adjacent runoff areas.
In fact, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has indicated that at least 35% of assessed rivers, lakes and estuaries are impaired by one or more pollutants. One of the primary pollutants found are nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus.
In this regard, efforts are currently underway to establish total maximum daily load values for pollutants, such as the above-described nutrients to impaired water bodies. For example, one of the current action proposals calls for the development of a unified national strategy to minimize water quality impacts from agricultural watersheds.
In response, those skilled in the art are attempting to develop cost effective pollution control solutions. Many proposed plans, however, call for the chemical treatment of wastewaters. Chemically treating wastewaters, however, cannot only be expensive but can also lead to the production of byproducts that must be disposed of.
As such, a need currently exists for a system and process for removing pollutants from wastewater. More particularly, a need exists for a system and process for removing nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, from runoff waters prior to discharging the water into a public water source. A need also exists for a system and process for removing pollutants from a wastewater that does not require the expenditure of large amounts of energy.